Best matching amp for Wilson W/P6, any sudgestions

The Watts/Puppies are rushlessly revealing of the electronics you use. That's their strength and weakness. You have two different way to go.

I have used a pair of BAT-VK60 successfully. The midrange and imaging are simply stunning. The bass was very dynamic but not the tighest possible. The high is extremely smooth; there some information missing at the very top. The soundstage is large but not completely wide open (tube amps usually don't go high enough to provide the best soundstage).

Your best choices of solid-state amps are the ones with high current and very wide frequency response like the Spectral to take full advantage of the Watts/Puppies capabilities. The advantages are numerous: great bass, very detailed highs, and huge soundstage. Watch out, however, for a little hardness in the sound--just a smidgeon, mind you, but it's there and it is hard to remove completely. You can try different speaker cables for fine tuning.

I overcorrected with the Rowland Model 7 monoblocks: the hardness was completely gone but the sound was a little too polite for my taste. I get outstanding results with my new switching amp: very dynamic sound with great bass, smooth midrange, detailed high, and huge soundstage. There is a little hardness in the sound but most of it is eliminated with the right speaker cables (OCOS transmission lines, triple run; double Straightwire Maestro) and a good power conditioner.

The bottom line is the Watts/Puppies will reveal everything in your system, warts and all so you have to be meticulous about everything upstream, especially in the high frequencies. With bad ss amps, these babies will drill holes in your ears.

Happy listening.

PS: I could not find any electronics in black lacquered piano finish as Jay Douglas suggested. Sorry.

I'll have to echo most of Justin times comments on the BAT VK60. I've since moved on to a BAT VK75SE. It considerably tightens the bottom end, goes lower, extends more on top but keeps that sweet warm lifelike midrange.

I've never heard my WP 6.0's with great SS amps. However, I've heard some other great systems, and I'm pretty happy with what I have.

Don't laugh, after living with and loving, my suggestion is the Musical Fidelity kW500 integrated. It has caused 2 of my audio friends to sell their seperates and a 3rd to tell everyone how good this amp sounds. This is my first posting on this amp. I have had it a while and every day I like it more. It's stunning. I lived with Levinson for years and Luxman before that, as well as Mac and cj. Don't dismiss this amp because people love to bash MF. Peace and Good Listening, Pat.

I have the Wilson/P7's and have tried the Edge,Classe,Krell, Bermaster, VTL,Quicksilver V4 monos, NAim,Lamm and Spectral amps. I Also the Mark Levinson Amps. I found that the Levinson 334 Amp the best. I was hoping to find a need for more power and therefore up grade to the 336 or the new 436. But Power and definition was not a problem. I also evaluated Preamps in various Combinations: Edge, Aestheticx calypso,Lamm,Classe and Levinson. I do not feel that tubes get the most out of these speakers. I really thought I would because of the great reviews of the LAMM and Aestheticx products. The transparency and tightness of instruments was lost. Also each Amp works differently with each preamp. Ultimately , I found the N32 Levinson preamp to work the best with the Levinson Amp and Wilson speakers. let me know what you think.

Hamburg, I did not have as many choices of amp and preamp as you did but I am not at all surprised by your choices and found myself in total agreement.

Overall I also prefer the sound of solid-state amp and preamp with the Watts/Puppies. I also found that tubes give me that magic in the midrange but at the expense of tightness and transparency as you put it. Your choices also support my findings that the Watts/Puppies demand the very best of ss electronics to really blossom.

I am also comforted by your findings that the Watts/Puppies do not necessarily demand huge power, just very clean power. I also found that high current/class A amps with stiff power supplies work best.